Shining Sea Bikeway

Shining Sea Bikeway
The trail by Trunk River Beach in Falmouth
Length10.7 mi (17.2 km)
LocationBarnstable County
Established1975
Trailheads1 Cowdry Road, Woods Hole
County Road, North Falmouth
UseHiking, bicycling, horseback riding, roller blading, and cross country skiing
DifficultyEasy
Seasonyear-round
Hazardsdeer ticks
poison ivy
road crossings
SurfacePaved
Right of wayFormer Old Colony Railroad's Woods Hole branch line
Maintained byTown of Falmouth
Websitewww.falmouthma.gov/1362/The-Shining-Sea-Bikeway

The Shining Sea Bikeway is a rail trail on Cape Cod in Falmouth, Massachusetts, United States. The path runs for 10.7 miles (17.2 km) from the Steamship Authority ferry terminal in Woods Hole to County Road in North Falmouth. The Shining Sea Bikeway is the oldest rail trail in Massachusetts, the first in the United States to be assembled by eminent domain, and the legal struggle to create the trail led to the strongest state rail corridor protection legislation in the country.:11,18